The inventor of Hawk-Eye believes the International Football Association Board could make a firm decision on the use of goal-line technology when it meets in Cardiff this month.

Dr Paul Hawkins, who devised the ball-tracking device used in cricket, snooker and tennis, believes football would benefit from embracing such systems, which have been successful in other sports.

He said: "The broadcast technology has moved on. Generally after close instances, everyone knows what the right decision was. So the debate is all about why nothing is being done about it.

"Ultimately, I think most people would say that this [the Frank Lampard incident in England's 4–1 defeat to Germany] and other refereeing decisions have slightly undermined the credibility of the World Cup."

Ifab, made up of the English Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales, the Irish Football Association and Fifa, meet on 21 and 22 July.

Hawkins said: "I think we will get a much clearer direction as to where football is heading after that meeting. We thought we were very close to goal-line technology being introduced before the 2008 meeting. We'll have to wait and see."

The Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, had ruled out goal-line technology in 2008, but has softened his stance in the wake of Lampard's disallowed goal.

Hawk-Eye, based in Winchester, has developed a system which uses six cameras facing the goal from different angles which track the ball. A signal is then transmitted via a bank of computers to the referee within half a second of the ball crossing the line.